Book One CHINA
IN THE BIBLE..................................... 1
Preface........................................................................ 1
Chapter One Eden
and China.............................. 3
Chapter Two
Dispersion After The Flood..... 11
Chapter Three
About “Sinim”(Isaiah 49:12)..... 18
Chapter Four
Others........................................... 22
Summary.................................................................... 24
Book Two AMERICA IN THE BIBLE.............................. 25
Preface...................................................................... 25
Chapter One Brief
History of America.......... 26
Chapter Two How
the Bible Describes America 33
Chapter Three The
Declining of America..... 42
Chapter Four The
End of America................... 47
Book Three RUSSIA IN THE BIBLE................................ 51
Preface...................................................................... 51
Chapter One The
Origin of Russia................... 52
Chapter Two A
Brief History of Russia......... 56
Chapter Three The
Return of the Jews from Russia 58
Chapter Four
Future Attack on Israel......... 60
Chapter Five
Questionning from Britain and America. 70
Chapter Six God’s
Judgment............................. 72
Chapter Seven War
of Armagedon................. 75
© Samuel Lamb
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Aug. 2009 Update.
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Bible Reading:
“Behold, these shall come from afar; and, behold, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.”(Isaiah 49:12, Ref. Genesis 2:8-14, 9:18- 19, 26-27 Darby Version)
Had the Bible ever mentioned China? Of course the word “China” never appeared in the Bible. However, the Bible did not only talk about China, more over it said that China will be very blessed in the future.
China now has a population of more than 12 hundred million, taking up a quarter of the world’s total. Why has God created so many Chinese? Simply because of this many Chinese people that He has created, God would surely not overlook them.
There are several civilized ancient nations in the world: Babylon (Iraq), Egypt, Israel and China. India is one of them, however its civilization is not as influential as others, and also it had been a colony of England for a long period of time. Besides India, all other ancient countries were mentioned in the Bible.
It is about six thousand years since the beginning of the existence of mankind. The age of the earth is about 45 to 48 hundred million years. But the Bible did not explicitly point out the date, it is only written, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) This is God’s first creaton. Later because of the disruption of Satan and demons, “And the earth was waste and empty, and darkness was on the face of the dee#p.”(Genesis 1:2) It is read starting from the third verse, God took six days reforming heaven and earth, and created human on the sixth day. Dating from there to now, the history of mankind is only six thousand years old.
China has a history of five thousand years, not much shorter than the history of mankind.
Now let’s take a look at how the Bible described China.
After God created the first people, He settled them in the garden of Eden: “And Jehovah Elohim planted a garden in Eden eastward, and there put man whom he had formed.”(Genesis 2:8)
1. Eden is also called “garden”, in the original text it means pleasure. This is “a garden inclosed” as in Song of Solomon 4:12-16.
2. Eden is located in the East: “A garden eastward (Genesis 2:8).”
3. Eden has four rivers (Genesis 2:10-14).
Let us first study these four rivers. “And a river went out of Eden, to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became four streams.”(v.10)
(1) Pison: “The name of the one is Pi’son; that is it which surrounds the whole land of Hav’ilah, where the gold is.”(v.11) Pison means jumping.
(2) Gihon: “And the name of the second river is Gi’hon: that is it which surrounds the whole land of Cush.”(v.13) Gihon means splitting u#p.
(3) Khidekel (Hiddekel): “And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which flows forward toward Asshur.”(v.14a) Hiddekel means providing palm.
(4) Phrat (Euphrates): “And the fourth river, that is Euphrates.”(v.14b) Phrat means growth and extension.
All four rivers have mountains and plateaus surrounding them and forming valleys, and all four flow toward the east.
The only entrance to Eden is at the East. After Adam committed sin, God chased him out of Eden, “Therefore Jehovah Elohim sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.” (Genesis 3:23) After he left Eden, God “set the Cherubim, ¼ toward the east of the garden of Eden ¼” (v.24) From here we know that the entrance is in the East.
In the past not a few theologians considered that Eden was originally located in Babylon because Babylon is in the east of Israel. Moreover, Babylon has two rivers whose names are the same as those two of Eden. Therefore it has been assumed that Eden was in Babylon.
However, please notice that Babylon has only two major rivers and Eden has four. “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became four main streams.”(Genesis 2:10)
There is a saying that after the flood covered the earth, we no longer could pin down the precise location of the garden of Eden, at the same time two of the rivers disappeared.
Is that true? But the shape of the land had not changed much after the flood and the fact that the names of the rivers are the same as the ones in the past should not seem strange.
Babylon has Tigris River. The third river of Eden is called Hiddekel (Genesis 2:14), and Hiddekel is Tigris, “...that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria.” Having the same names is not unusual. After the flood the three sons of Noah were dispersed all over the world. Shem arrived at where is now called Assyria, and named his son “Asshur”: “ The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.”(Genesis 10:22) For the purpose of remembering Assyria of Eden, Shem called his son Asshur. Not coincidentally Ham called his son Cush, “And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.” (Genesis10:6) for the purpose of remembering Cush in Eden, “And the name of the second river is Gihon: that is it which surrounds the whole land of Cush.”(Genesis 2:13) The formal name of Ethiopia is Cush. How can we say that Eden is in Africa just because Cush is in Africa? Having the same name does not necessarily prove that this is the land that we’ve been looking for.
Babylon also has a river called Euphrates, also called Phrat. This river is to remember the river of Phrat in Eden, “And the fourth river, that is Euphrates.”(Genesis 2:14) We can’t assume that Eden is in Babylon just because of the corresponding names, just like we can’t assume that Eden is in Africa simply because Cush is in Africa.
Secondly, all four rivers of Eden flow toward the east, but the two rivers of Babylon flow toward the south. The North mountains and the East mountains of Babylon are not very high, two rivers flow southward and enter the sea. The South of Babylon is the sea. The curious thing is that God first let Adam “have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over every animal that moveth on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28b) Later “out of the ground Jehovah Elohim had formed every animal of the field, and all fowl of the heavens, and brought them to Man, to see what he would call them; and whatever Man called each living soul, that was its name.”(2:19) But God did not bring “every fish in the sea” unto Adam and let them being named. Therefore Eden is not Babylon.
Israel has the famous Jordan River. However, all the tributaries of Jordan are not heading toward the east (Genesis 2:8) but toward the Dead Sea in the south. Israel also does not attain four rivers, therefore neither Israel nor Canaan are possibly Eden.
Others considered the site of Eden being in Pakistan. Pakistan is at the East-north of Babylon (Iraq) and Persia (Iran), near India. But Pakistan does not have four rivers. It has Indus and Brahmaputra Rivers, but they are not heading eastward. Moreover Pakistan is not at the same latitude as Jerusalem’s. Therefore, Pakistan cannot be the original place of Eden either.
Recently some Jews and Americans discovered that the original site of Eden should be in Sichuan Basin of China.
The four rivers of Eden are the original names of the four in Sichuan, three of them are being described to compass the lands of Eden.
Let us take a look of Sichuan Province.
Sichuan province has an area of more than 560 thousand kilometers square. It has a population of about one hundred million, and is the most populated province in China, taking 1/53 of the world’s total and 1/12 of China’s total. In other words, for every 12 Chinese there is one person who lives in Sichuan.
Sichuan has Han, Zang, Yi, Qiang, Miao, Hui, Mongol, Tujia, Lisu and Man, all these various ethnic groups.
At the forth year of Xianpin King of North Song (1,001 A.C.) “Chuan-Xia-Si-Lu,” “Four River Routes” (Note: Si is four, chuan is river) was developed in the East region, which has been called “Four Rivers” or “Shu” for short since, this was how “Sichuan” got its name.
Sichuan originally had four rivers which then divided into nine rivers.
The major four rivers are Ming, Tou, Jiali and Wu. Five other rivers deriving from those four are Jinsha, Ya’long, Da’du, Bei and Qu.
Sichuan has four major river sources that combine into the Yangtze River or the Long River which flows toward the East Plain. The mouth is the East Long River Gorge and is known for its dangerous rapids. The four rivers could “water” the land just as the ones did in Eden, “And a river went out of Eden, to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became four main streams.”(Genesis 2:10)
It is impossible to insist that Babylon is Eden because Babylon is the “Desert of the Sea”(Isaiah 21:1), which could not “water the garden,” and Babylon had to build canals to water itself. However, the four rivers of Sichuan are able to “water the garden.”
Eden had Phrat River (Genesis 2:14). “Phrat” can be translated to “the number one river in the East. “The number one river of China is the Long River, whose flow volume is twenty times more than the Yellow River’s. One third of the China’s water entering the sea come from the Long River, which is one of the three largest rivers in the world.
Sichuan is also called “the province of thousand water.” A quarter of the country’s water source is originated from here. Keep in mind that it is plain water, not sea water.
Taking Jerusalem as the center, the same latitude lies across Jerusalem and Sichuan and all the way to Shanghai, which is North 31 Degree.
The “Sichuan Valley” is a famous red basin and one of the four largest basins in the country. A basin is a space that is surrounded by mountains and plateaus that form this space into a huge basin. The Sichuan Basin accumulates snows and appears cloudy most of the time.
Please recall that with red earth God created the first man: “And Jehovah Elohim formed Man, dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and Man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7) “Man” was “Adam”, and “Adamah” means “red earth.” “Dam” is “blood,” and “adom” is “red.” Red earth contains high level of iron, and human blood contains Fe 2+. In summary, God used red earth to form the first man. Sichuan Basin is a red basin where red earth is plentiful, how amazing!
(1) Gold and treasure stones:
In the recent hundreds years, the places that have been discovered with the most gold mines are Xin-jiang, Hei’-long-jiang and Sichuan Province. Sichuan has “Jinxia River,” or “River of Gold Sand,” which was called “Li’-shui,” or “Water of Beauty” in ancient days. The tributary of Jinxia River is called “Gold River.” Sichuan is one of the three largest gold producing sites, it is also titled “Tian Fu”, “Residence of Heaven.” Next to the Dead Sea, Sichuan is the place that has the second greatest amount of rare metals.
Now let’s take a tour at Eden, “The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stones.” (Genesis 2:11-12) Eden is rich gold mine, “And the gold of that land is good”, moreover “there is bdellium and the onyx stone.” Notice that the name of this river is “Pison: that is it which surrounds the whole land of Havilah.” So let’s then learn something about “Pison” and “Havilah.”
“Pison” is “jumping” in Hebrew, “Havilah” is “winding”.
Right after the winding of the Lu River and the Lanching River of Sichuan, it turns to the most enormous winding of the great Long River. After the winding the water flows into the great lower valley of two snow mountains, Yu’long and Habai, and becomes the well-known “Hu Tiao Gorge,” or “Tiger Jumping Gorge”. From here flowing eastward we can find gold. This is where the Gold River being fixed narrowly for several tens Li. It leaps from the bottom and looks like a fierce tiger jumping from the mountain.
Sichuan also has the world-wide attracted amber and green stones.
(2) Animals:
Eden had lots of animals, all the species in the world came from here. God brought them unto Adam and let him name the animals (Genesis 2:19-20).
We can find many fossils of distinct animals in Sichuan Province, the biggest count of all are the dinosaurs’ fossils. One of the three world’s largest fossil museums is founded in Sichuan. Sichuan also has the world’s greatest tomb of dinosaur fossils.
The many of animals results in abundant source of petroleum. Sichuan is China’s leading petroleum export province, recording 12.6 million tons each year.
(3) Plants:
World botanists said that all the plants of the world came from Sichuan. Sichuan has been titled “the kingdom of primeval forest.” The most peculiar woods of the world have been found in Sichuan. In the beginning, Eden had many kinds of trees, “out of the ground Jehovah Elohim made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight...” (Genesis 2:9), and mountains and running water. Further more, the size of Eden is the same as the size of Sichuan Province.
The great number of plants results in abundance of coal seams. Since the flood ruined the whole earth, trees have been descended into the nether world, “To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden, unto the lower parts of the earth,...” (Ezekiel 31:18) Trees forming the coal seams is God’s “perpetual decree” (Jeremiah 5:22).
The flood did not change the basic shape of the earth. Some thought that Eden was Babylon, where remained two rivers after the flood. We may say that Eden did not go through transformation, its four rivers are still in Sichuan Province, not in Babylon. God preserved this characteristic of Eden.
With all the reasons above we conclude that Sichuan and the regions nearby are the former site of Eden. Mankind first existed in the East, later they scattered all over the world, and mainly near Babylon.
English Dr. Joseph Lee is one of the greatest scientists in the world after Einstein and Laplace. The greatness of the former two was their discovery of cosmology--the Unified Field Theory. And the greatness of Dr. Joseph Lee is his discovery of the origin of civilization being in China.
We have talked about the original site of Eden being Sichuan of China. Later when wickedness of man reached to the highest peak, God made flood to destroy all on the earth, except Noah who “found favour in the eyes of Jehovah” .(Genesis 6:8)
God instructed Noah, Adam’s tenth generation grandson, to build an ark, and “entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark” (Genesis 7:13), for they made a total of eight. When the flood ceased, “Noah went out, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him.”(8:18) 1,650 years had passed since the time of Adam to the day that Noah came out of the ark, which was about 2,350 B.C., Now let’s look at the dispersion of Noah’s three sons.
Chapter Ten of Genesis recorded the dispersion of Noah’s three sons all over the world. This chapter documented the youngest son first, and the first son last. However, let’s study them in the order from the oldest son to the youngest son.
Shem is the first son, His descendants scattered in Asia. “Shem” means “reputation.” The Lord God is God of Shem (9:26), because Israel is a clan of Shem.
Shem was the ancestor of the yellow skinned (Mongolian), including Native American Indian, Pacific Islander, Tartar, Burmese, Kampuchean of Thai, Eskimos, Chinese and Hebrew.
Shem had five sons (10:22): “Elam” is now Iran, “Asshur” is now America, “Arphaxad” is the ancestor of the Jews (Abraham is his descendent), “Aram” is now Syria and about “Lud”, some people said it is Lydia, but the majority of the people think he is Chinese.
About Arphxad, “Arphaxad begot Shelah; and Shelah begot Eber.”(10:24) “And to Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg”, and his brother Joktan (25). Joktan means younger son.
The Bible recorded a detailed list of Joktan’s thirteen sons (10:26-29, 1 Chronicles 1:29-23), this is the most detailed list in the early part of the Bible. But it was not being continued, the focus turned to the descendants of Peleg (Genesis 11:16-27). From there we know that Peleg is the ancestor of Abraham and his sons multiplied in the West of Asia and Joktan’s sons multiplied in the East of Asia (Genesis 10:30), “a mount of the east”, or “oriental” in the original text, especially means Asia.
“Ham” means black, also contains meaning of “dim”. He and his son Canaan (9:18) had been cursed (9:26-27) because of his shameful act, so he shall be the servant.
They moved west-ward and first occupied Canaan and then they moved southward and occupied Africa, and they became black Africans. They had been servants for several thousands of years until this century when they successively became independent.
Japheth is “to enlarge” and “good.” They are the White race (Caucasian or Aryan). They have settled in the West.
They wanted to enlarge, “Let God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his bondman.” (Genesis 9:27) The whites kept searching colonies in Asia, Africa and America. However, all those colonies successively became independent. The whites cannot seize them for long, because they are only there to “dwell in the tents of Shem,” but not to “permanently occupy,” so that they have to return to their own countries.
“Let him dwell in the tents of Shem” is of another significance: the Westerners not only found their colonies in Asia, moreover they found their way of salvation within the Jewish circle in Asia.
How Chinese came about then if the original site of Eden is in China?
Chinese belongs to a clan of Shem, same as Israel, they are Shem’s descendants and yellow skinned. Some say that Chinese are also direct descendants of Noah. We know that China has Nuwo ethnic grou#p. Noah has the same pronunciation as Nuwo. Noah’s descendants, or just a group of them, came to the East, and became the Nuwo ethnic grou#p. Nevertheless, Chinese mainly is Shem’s descendant.
When Jesus was born, “behold magi from the east arrived at Jerusalem.” (Matthew 2:1) Many said that they were from Babylon, because Babylonians were good at astronomy, and the wise men from the East “have seen his star in the east, and have come to do him homage.” (v.2)
But please notice that the word “east” in Matthew 2:19 can be translated to “morning.” The wise men saw the star in the morning, and came from China to Jerusalem. Jesus was born right at the time of the Han Dynasty when Hanwu King established the “Silk Road.” The wise men could walk along the Silk Road to Jerusalem.
The capital of China at that time was Chang’an, and the latitude of Chang’an was precisely facing Jerusalem, while Babylon’s latitude was not. Therefore, the wise men who came to Jerusalem were not Babylonians but Chinese.
Quite many people consider that it is only a little more than a hundred years that the gospel has been spread out in China, they do not know that the gospel had already been introduced to China more than a thousand years ago.
First let’s look at the first time when the gospel, or namely Nestorianism at that time, was sent to China.
At about 500 A.D. right at the time of Tang Dynasty, Nestorian sent Christians to preach Nestorianism (Jing Jiao) to China.
At the ninth year of Taizong Tang, a Persian missionary Alapen came to China. Taizhong Tang ordered high officer Xuenli to welcome Alapen with ceremonial bands at Chang’an. Alapen was Persian (or now lranian), and thereby Chinese considered what he brought was Persian religion. Originally Persians believed in demons, later because they found that Christianity was good, they started to accept Christ. Alapen came to China to let Christianity be known with the same motivation as all those who truly accepted Christ.
Taizhong Tang had conversation with Alapen. After nine years of examining, he ordered to build a monastery, but not temple, in Chang’an and named it “Monastery of Heavenly Honour,” meaning “the most honourable is the God high in heaven.”
More and more monasteries were built as Taide Tang became the king, more people started to believe in Jesus in many places.
Alapen sent the gospel to China via Tibet, therefore many “colour-eyed people” believed in Jesus. Since then the gospel was continuously spread out in China.
The son of one missionary, EC, during Tang became an examination officer, wearing purple rope. Later he erected the Nestorian tablet of great Qin. Christianity had always been considered as “Persian religion” until the era of Yuanzong Tang when people started to realize that this was not Persian religion but Christianity and therefore it was renamed “Nestorianism of great Chin.” The tablet depicted how people believed in Jesus at that time.
After that during the Chao Wang’s Rebellion many Christians were killed. As kings and queens one after another, such as Zetian Wu, Yuanzhang Zhu, and Queen Cixi, persecuted Christians, Nestorianism gradually disappeared.
Let’s then see how the gospel was sent to China the second time.
On September 7th, 1807 English Morrison came to Canton. He was the first person who sent the gospel to Canton via Macau. He evangelized for seven years but merely gained one follower of Christ, whose name was Fa Liang.
China not yet began to print Bibles until 1822.
From 1807 to prior Communist’s Liberation was about 150 years. All those who believed including Catholics numbered only less than three million. However in recent years the number increased to several tens of millions!
The language of Adam and Eve hadn’t changed until Noah. After Noah people built the tower of Babel for the purpose of proclaiming their names (Genesis 11:4) and to rebel against God. Therefore, God “confound their language.”(v.7,9)
Joktan (Genesis 10:25) preserved the first language for Chinese, and it became the major language of China. No wonder many characters made later echo Biblical stories. Here we would like to raise a few examples:
(1) To create, “造”（丿、土、囗、 辶): “丿”, means the breath of life. “土”, dust, God took dust to form man; “囗”, mouth, with mouth God blew the breath of life into man’s nostrils; “辶”walking radical, man gains life then he is able to walk. This is the character“造”which means to create.
(2) Blessing, “福”（礻、田、）:“礻”,radical for supernatural. Blessing indeed comes from God. “田”，field or garden, is Eden.“”is written“”in ancient time, representing two people’s intimate relationshi#p.
(3) To forbid, “禁”（林、示）：The first warning was announced in the woods (Eden).“示”is warning, also means God.“林”is woods.
(4) Greed, “婪”（林、女): A woman“女”under the trees“林”is the picture of greed. The girl, Eve, in Eden greedily ate the fruit of knowledge.
(5) Naked, “裸”（果、衤）“衤”is clothing;“果”is fruit. After Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit of knowledge they immediately felt shameful of being naked. So they clothed themselves with fig leaves.
(6) Boat,“船”（舟、八、囗）：“舟”is boat,“八”is eight;“囗”is mouth, also means the count of people. The eight people of Noah’s family all got into the boat (Genesis7:13),and this is the story of the first boat.
(7) Righteousness,“義” (羊、我) “羊” is lamb “我”is I. Jesus is “the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).” The Lamb above me is the picture of righteousness. If the Lamb is below or at the right or left, righteousness would not be made possible.
(8) To come, “來” (十、人、人、人):The crucifixion of Jesus Christ constructs the character “木”,wood (十、人). At each side of Jesus there is a man “人” who is being nailed at the same time, and this constructs the character “來”, to come. The salvation of Jesus Christ on the cross is prepared for anyone who is willing “to come.”
(9) Man, “人”(丿、):Two people are united into one body. Adam comes first “丿”, and Eve follows “”. Therefore Eve should not raise her head higher than her husband, but she is there to support the man. If woman raises her head higher, it becomes the word“入”, to enter.
(10) To sacrifice, “犧”（牛、羊、秀、戈）: To kill the choice“秀”lamb“羊”and cattle“牛”to sanctify your sin is to sacrifice (Leviticus 22:17-21).
(11) Beauty, “美”（羊、大）:The larger“大”the sheep“羊”,the more beautiful it is.
(12) God, “神”（示、申）：God is a God who reveals and breathes words“示”.God also listens to people’s requests and cries for innocence“申”.“申”moreover means to give a gift. God gives many blessing to His people.
(13) Offering,“祀”(示、巳): God “示”reveals to people to worship Him at the third hour “巳” (9-11a.m.). In the Old Testament, God commands us to make sin offering by killing the best animals at the third hour. Jesus was crucified at the third hour, “It was the third hour, and they crucified Him (Mark 15:25).”
(14) I,“我”（手、戈）：Holding a weapon “戈” in hand “手”is the picture of “我”, I. Holding a weapon represents the sinful nature of human being.
Many other characters are very interesting, too. Only Chinese characters attain Biblical significance.
Before we talk about “Sinim,” let’s first study what Isaiah, chapter 49 is about, so that we can understand the time period and the main idea of verse 12. This chapter is about after the restoration of Babylon, the Israelites did not want to accept the Prince of Peace, salvation thus fell unto outsiders, and only until the end time Israel will be restored and revived.
The first verse mentioned the reason that the King of kings was to be called. Verse two explained that based on what He was to be called. Verses three and four described the victory of his calling. The line “Thou art my servent, Israel, in whom I will glorify myself” does not refer to the country of Israel but to Jesus. He was rejected by the Jews, “I have spent my strength for nought and in vain” is the voidness of His work to some people. Because the Jews rejected salvation, salvation thus fell unto outsiders.
“To restore the preserved of Israel” refers to the return of Jews from Babylon and also refers to repentance from sin (42:7). Even further reference is the restoration and revival after the great disasters.
“In a time of acceptance have I answered thee” (v.8), this points to the finished work of Jesus’ salvation. “...and in the day of salvation have I helped thee;and I will preserve thee”(v.8b), when Jesus comes again, he is to become the mediator of Israel. He will make new covenant with Israel, and “to establish the land...”
The last repentence of Israel will come during the most severe suffering of the great disasters, eventually God will help them survive through out crisis.
Verses 11-12 talked about the submission of all nations: “all my mountains” are all the nations. In the past all nations attempted to prevent Israel to return, in the future all nations shall become the kingdom of the Lord.
Verse 14 is the complaint of Israel regarding the suffering that they’ve gone through in Babylon; moreover it is also the complaint during the great disasters.
Verse 15-18 are God’s comforting.
Verse 19 to 50:3 described the scene of revival: reconstruction of land (v.19-21), new bringing of people (v.22-23), and revival of spirit (v.24-50:3).
lsaiah was written in 755 B.C.. Besides the return of Israel during the great disasters, it also predicted that after the great disasters, especially during the ten thousand years of jubilation, people from various countries will come to the holy ground and worship, “Behold, these shall come from afar; and behold, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.” (v.12) Sinim is the original word for Qin.
Here it starts from the South: “come from far.” The far away place are definitely not very near, and it should be the South. Why? Because the following mentioned “north,” “west,” and “Sinim” is in the East, so it should be the South. The South of Israel refers mainly to Africa and all the way to Antarctic Continent, many countries are included.
“From the north”: The North of Israel also has not a few of countries, especially Russia and other northern nations.
“From the west”: the West of Israel is Europe all the way to American Continent, compassing many nations.
“These from the land of Sinim”: namely this is the East, because in the South there is not a country called Sinim.
Some people considered it was the mountain Sinai or Sinn at the sea side of Lebanon. But both of them are “from near”, not “from far.”
Other people considered it was Assouan (Aswan) in the the south of Egypt, where a Jewish colony was established. But this was totally unrelated to Sinim, moreover it was also located nearby.
Sinim should be China:
“Sinim” is the transformation of “Sinae,” which is China. Up to now Jews still call China “Sinim” and Chinese “Sine.” Western people call it Sina, Sin or China. The suffice “na” means country.
China in English is Chin(Qin)+na(country). The name Indo-China refers to the countries that lie between India and China. Therefore, Sinim or Qin is China.
Countries in West Asia called China “the great Qin,” or namely Sinim.
The time when Isaiah announced this prophecy was 750 B.C., the Qin Dynasty had not yet started. It was the period of Warring States. In 250 B.C., the first emperor of Qin then unified the whole China. If it was someone other than Emperor Qin who unified China, the prophecy in the Bible would become inaccurate. Isaiah had prophesied about Qin 500 years before it was established, surely God breathed the words to him.
Why didn’t God predict something about Zhou Dynasty or Han Dynasty but only Qin? God knows in the end time China will again put focus to the first Emporor of Qin, therefore Qin is particularly mentioned in the Bible.
This scripture is a prediction that points to the later period of the great disasters and the post period of the revival of Israel, many people will come from the various countries from Africa, the North, the West and Qin.
We all know that there are numerous countries in the South (from far), same as in the North and West. Of course there are also numerous countries in the East, but the Bible only speaks about Sinim. Based on this we know that the count of Chinese people who come to accept Christ will be enormous during the seven years of disasters.
In the future during the Millennium there will also be a great number of people coming to worship the holy ground, “Behold, these shall come from far: and lo, these from the north and from the west;” and regarding the East, “these from the land of Sinim.”
When we come to heaven, we will see many people from Africa, the northern countries and western countries but those of the greatest number is from Sinim. In one accord all Chinese believers will “break forth into singing” (v.13).
Besides what have been mentioned, we want to make two additional points.
“And the sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates; and its water was dried up, that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared.” (Revelation 16:12)
Some said that the East is China.
This section said that the last world war will break out at the end of the great disasters. The world will gather in Armagedon of the north of Israel (v.16). As for the East, there are also many people engaging in the war. But notice that it is not only for one king but for kings of the East the way might be prepared. The many kings are the many countries, certainly China is included though it isn’t the only one.
Jacob gave blessing to his sons before he died (Genesis 49). We are only focusing the words of blessing that he gave to Joseph, “Joseph is a fruitful bough; A fruitful bough by a well; His branches shoot over the wall.” (49:22)
It is known that Joseph had been sold to Egypt (Genesis 37:28), and later he became the ruler in Egypt (41:40-44).
Jacob prophesied that the branches of Joseph would run over the wall. Usually we consider “over the wall” as the outside of a wall of a house. But rarely trees are planted inside a house. Then maybe this is the outside of the wall of a garden. Passersby may sit under the shade of the branches that run over the wall, and people may even pick the fruits to eat. This is to prophesy the descendants of Joseph are contributive to others. However, this contribution of shading has not much significance.
It turns out to be that it’s a prophecy about China. We all know that the Great Wall in China is the greatest wall in the world. The branches of Joseph—the seed of the gospel, run all the way over the Great Wall, and thus come to China. As for now there are several tens of million of Chinese believe in Christ, and there will be more in the future. Especially during the seven years of Tribulation the number will grow countlessly. Then it is really the branches of Joseph running over the Great Wall of China, and now there is already a sign of that scene!
The area of China is over 9.6 million square kilometers.
Several countries in the world are in the similar size as China, but China has the highest number of population, 1.2-1.3 billion. India ranks the second and only has 5 hundred million.
Looking from various angles, China has been developing in the prophecies of the Bible. This alone provides a strong proof that the second coming of Jesus Christ is very near. We desire to see more Chinese come to believe in Jesus as soon as possible so together we can enjoy all the blessings in His everlasting kingdom.
Nov. 18, 1995.
Scripture (according to Darby Translation):
“Ha! land shadowing with wings, which art beyond the rivers of Cush, that sendest ambassadors over the sea, and in vessels of papyrus upon the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a nation scattered and ravaged, to a people terrible from their existence and thenceforth; to a nation of continued waiting and of treading down, whose land the rivers have spoiled.”(Isaiah 18: 1-2)
“Sheba, and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to seize a spoil? Hast thou gathered thine assemblage to take a prey ? to carry away silver and gold, to take cattle and goods, to seize a great spoil ? ”(Ezekiel 38: 13)
Numerous people have said that the Bible has not mentioned America and things about America. These people also have no ideas of what America will be like in the last days. Is it rising or declining ? In our opinion, America is already declining. Indeed, the Bible has foretold the fall of America.
On the other hand, after we start to observe the beginning and the gradual decline of America, by referring to the Bible, it not only proves that the Bible comes from God but also helps us to realize that the second coming of Christ is near. We ought to be alert and well prepared for the arrival of Christ from above.
It is well-known that America is a young nation, which has only over two hundred years of history.. America is a super power in the world, however it is not one of the five great ancient countries in the world, which are Babylon, Egypt, Israel, China and India. China has a history of five thousand years, and is a civilized ancient country.
Before the discovery of America, most of the world’s population gathered in the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Well then, how was America found ?
Columbus was an Italian, his whole name is Christopher Columbus. He believed that if men travel West across the Atlantic Ocean, West of Europe, they would find more land. Later he was supported by the Queen of Spain and decided to travel West-ward to search for new land. Many have thought that Columbus landed on the continent of America only once, but actually he visited there four times.
For the first time, on October 12, 1492, at 2 AM, he stepped on the new land, which is now the Wattlin Island of the Caribbean Sea, also is called El Salvador. On March 16, 1493, he safely returned to Spain.
On September 25, 1493, he began his second journey. He traveled only for 29 days and landed on Dominican Island. On April 27, 1492, he discovered Jamaica Island.
For the third time, on May 30, 1498, his journey began. He discovered Tinicda Island on July 31. On August 2, he landed on Paulia Peninsula. This was his first time landing on the mainland of America Continent. He called it “paradise on earth ”.
On May 11, 1502, he began his fourth journey. He discovered Honduras on August 13. Soon he came to Nicaragua, and to Costa Rica on August 15. Then he arrived Panama and found the Gulf of Darien in Columbia. On November 7, 1504, he returned to Spain.
Columbus died on May 20, 1506.
Since Columbus found the new continent, a steady flow of Europeans immigrants arrived. The large number of immigrants were mostly from England, France, Holland and Spain. They were all competing for colonization.
Mainly the British and some other countries’ immigrants came to reside in America, and it became a British colony. The British knew that America was a land full of resources, therefore the colony had been taxed heavily. Soon the colonial people came together to fight against the intolerable taxation of the British, and the war independence was launched. In the end the British lost. America gained her independence on July 4, 1776.
America is a multi-cultural nation, and is mainly made of European descendants, who are the sons of Japheth ( Genesis 10: 2-5 ). It is also occupied by Asians, Africans, etc. “America” originally came from the name of a person. When all its states became united, it became the United States of America, or USA. People who belong to America are called American.
The States of America: same as the province of England and China, and tribes of Israel. They are states, and also the States as many nations.
The new American nation had only thirteen states. Later the number increased to 48, and then added Alaska in the East-north, and Hawaii Islands in Pacific Ocean, for the total of 50 states.
Unlike the shapes of other countries provinces on the map, the shapes of the states of America are mostly squares and rectangles. Our provinces are varied in their shapes, and are divided according to geographic, cultural, ethnic variations. However, during the early days of new America, people took over whatever land they saw and drew the boundaries, so they drew the land in rectangular shapes.
The first president of the US was George Washington. He was inaugurated into office in New York, the temporary capital, on April 30, 1789. During the inauguration, he laid his hand on the Bible and prayed, and said in the end, “May God bless me !” This became the tradition of every president’s inauguration in American history.
The third president, Thomas Jefferson was the first president who was inaugurated in Washington, DC.
Before, anyone who was a high official was allowed to host the presidential inauguration. However, since 1791, president John Adam, it was the chief Justice hosting the ceremony.
The US elects a new president every four years. If we divide the year number by 4, for every divisible number is the year of election, such as 1992, 1996, 2000. The year that US elects a president is the leap year in Western calendar. Adding one day after February 28, and we get February 29.
The Americans held their elections on the first week of November. The new president is inaugurated on January 20 the next year. (Before 1933, the day of inauguration changed was on March 4.)
Two famous presidents:
The first one was the Democratic leader Thomas Jefferson. He was the author of the Declaration of Independence.
Another one was Republican Abraham Lincoln, one of the pioneers of the abolition of slavery.
Both of these presidents helped the nation to become united when it was under division.
There are countless important events in American History. Here we will only point out a few that happened in this century.
Both of the world wars occurred during the twentieth century; and both were initiated in Europe. Americans were originally from Europe.
The First World War: started on July 28, 1914. Germany attacked Serbia, and the war lasted four years and three months, until November 11, 1918, the world peace day.
American troops joined in the war shortly before it was finished. The US made a significant contribution in ending the war.
The Second World War started on September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland. On September 3, England and France made declaration of war against Germany, and it became a world war.
On December 8, 1941 ( or 7 in US time ), the Japanese air force attacked Pearl Harbor, Honolulu of the Hawaii Islands in Pacific Ocean, and at the same time they bombed Kowloon, Hong Kong. This was the beginning of Pacific War.
On August 6, 1945, US dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan; on August 9 another atomic bomb was dropped over Nagasaki. At last, Japan unconditionally surrendered on August 15, and formally signed the contract on September 2. The Second World War lasted six years and then ended.
America’s intervention was crucial to the ending of both “world wars”.
On February 1957, the scientist who discovered nuclear energy announced in Washington, DC, that no matter how much science improves, mankind will never get to the moon. Other scientists didn’t listen to him and mankind eventually landed on the moon.
American Edward White walked on the moon on 1965.
American Jim Irwin became one of the 19 spaceman ( astronaut ) candidates.
In July 1969, Apollo No. 11 landed on the moon. Neil Armstrong became the first man to step on the moon.
Jim Irwin became a reserve astronaut of Apollo No. 12 which was the second spaceship to land on the moon. At that time he was chosen to become a team member of Apollo No. 15, whose commander was David Scott.
On July 26, 1971, Irwin and two other astronauts got up at 4:30 in the morning and arrived at the launching station. Two days later they were approaching the moon. He became the first of the 12 moon-walkers.
According to the prophecies in the Bible , there will be a peaceful state in Middle East before the second coming of Christ. Out of a good intention US make effect to keep peace, but they wanted Israel to yield its land to Arabic nations in exchange, especially to give away Jerusalem, which is against God’s will.
On November 1977, the president of Egypt Anwar Sadat came to Jerusalem and discussed about achieving peace with Israel, but had no significant outcome.
On September 5-15, 1978, US president, Jimmy Carter and the prime minister of Egypt, Anwar Sadat and the president of Israel, Menachem Begin, held a important meeting together at Camp David in the State of Maryland. They and their intimates signed the “Camp David Peace Treaty” after thirteen days living in solitary. This served a foundation of a friendly relationship between the two countries.
However, the peace treaty was strongly opposed by the Islamic world, and they expelled Egypt from the Arabic confederation.
On October 30, 1991, the peace conference of the Middle East was held in Madrid. On April 29, 1993, the peace conference was resumed.
The US must have policy toward Middle-East to preserve peace in order to maintain the import of petroleum.
In the past, Egypt signed the Camp David Peace Treaty and as a result it was expelled by the Islamic world. The treaty discussed at the “peace Conference of the Middle East” planned by US had not been officially signed until 1993.
The 42nd president of the USA, Bill Clinton was hosting a discussion of Israel and Palestine signing a contract at 11:45 AM on September 13, 1993: On May 4, 1994, both countries formally signed the peace agreement ( last agreement ) at Cairo.
Rabin gave away Gaza and Jericho to Palestine. We know that Jericho was the first city taken by Joshua when he led the Israelites into Canaan. Gaza was the last city that David conquered, and was ruled by Solomon ( 1 Kings 4:24 ). Rabin had given away the first city to Palestine.
Originally God has prepared Canaan ( land of Israel ) to Abraham and his sons, but not to the sons of Ishmael. It does not please God if Rabin insists to act against Him.
On October 17, 1994, planned by US, Rabin and the prime minister of Jordan, Marjory signed the draft of agreement at Ammam; on October 26, 2 PM the Peace Treaty was officially signed.
In the future Israel will sign treaties with Arabic countries such as Syria, Lebanon, etc. in exchange of peace under the active influence of the US.
Keeping peace in Middle East meets the Prophecies in the Bible, but making cession of territory, especially Jerusalem, is against God’s will.
Most of the Americans immigrants came from England, Europe. England originally was a Christian country. Many immigrants from other countries also believed in Christ, and consequently America became a Christian country. They believed that God has sent His son Jesus Christ to the world; and He was born in Bethlehem of Israel; Jesus is the only savior to everyone.
The first president of the US, George Washington inaugurated into office on April 30, 1789. He laid his land on the Bible and prayed, at last he said “May God bless me.”
The American Broad of Education had been using McGuffey Reader for textbooks for about one hundred years, one-fourth of the materials in which were related to the Bible.
70% of the American astronauts are Christians and majority of the greatest scientists are Christians.
America has a population about 250 million, half of these people pray at least once a day.
90% of the American believers are belonged to 220 separate Christian domination. They are the conservatives ( evangelical and fundamental ) and the liberals ( Modernist and false prophecies, etc. ) The evangelical and fundamental domination are the most biblical ones; the liberals are “false prophets”. After 1960, the number of the liberals decreased drastically, and the number of the conservatives continuously increased. They advocate abolition of abortion, against homosexual and to resume open prayers in public schools.
Since the establishment of the American Bible Society, millions of Bibles have been sent to places all around the world.
America had always been sending missionaries for world evangelism.
We have discussed the general outlook of America and some of its uniqueness, now let us see how the Bible describes it.
So far we discuss many things about America, if it is not mentioned in the Bible, then we would have became false-prophets.
Even though the word “America” is not in the Bible, but the Bible did say something about it. Same as the word “China” is not in the Bible, but the Bible also mentioned China.
The three sons of Noah were distributed in the world, “Shem”, is Asia, mainly is yellow-skinned. “Ham” is Black African, and “Japheth” live in Europe, and is white ( Genesis 10:2-5 ). Americans are immigrants from Europe, the Americans are also Japheth’s descendants. This is the earliest record in the Bible on the origin of America.
There are three books of prophecies in the Old Testament talking about America: Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The book of Revelation in the New Testament especially talks about the fall of America.
“Ha! land shadowing with wings, which art beyond the rivers of Cush, that sendest ambassadors over the sea, and in vessels of papyrus upon the waters, ( saying ) Go, swift messengers, to a nation scattered and ravaged, to a people terrible ( or marvelous ) from their existence and thenceforth; to a nation of continued waiting and of treading down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!”( Isaiah 18:1-2 )
“Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush, which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water.Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, and aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers”( Isaiah 18:1-2, NIV ).
In the past this scripture generally has been interpreted as a prophecy on “Cush”, even the title in the Bible also says that “A Prophecy Against Cush ( NIV )”. Let us first look at Cush:
Cush is Ethiopia in Africa, the south of Egypt. At that time the emperor of Cush ruled over Egypt. Some would say that this scripture also indicates the Egyptians. However, if we read this scripture carefully, we could see that it is about America.
Pay attention that the scripture is not talking about Cush but “beyond the rivers of Cush”. Cush has “rivers”, which means that there are more than one river. The river of Cush is Nile River, but becomes “rivers” when the tributaries are included. In here it is not saying the rivers of Cush, but “beyond the rivers”. The word “beyond” means farther away. It is farther than Europe, Asia and Africa, because it is “over the sea, and in vessels of papyrus upon the waters.” Here it does not mean the Red Sea in the East, because Nile River is at Cush’s West, it must be farther north across Mediterranean and then through Atlantic Ocean extending to the American Continent.
Maybe someone would say, “ ‘beyond the rivers’ not necessary is American Continent, it is just a guess.” Well then, allow us to study further. “Wings”: What are the wings beyond the rivers of Cush ? The national emblem of USA is an eagle with a pair of wings stretching. Therefore, the wings beyond the rivers of Cush come from the emblem of an eagle.
“The land of whirring”: many people interpret that it is a land with lots of flies and mosquitoes, or it is to describe the clashing sounds of the boats moving closely with each other through the torrent ( Nile and its tributaries are the major traffic routes in Egypt ).
However, what do “flies and mosquitoes” and “boats” have to do with “wings”?
Assume that “wings” are the symbol of America, then the sound should come from America. Furthermore it is not soft sound, but “whirring” sound.
The noises of American planes, rockets and atomic bombs and nuclear military weapons are certainly louder than noises from many other countries.
“A people feared far and wide” and “tall and smooth-skinned” refer to that American are tall and smooth-skinned and America is a super nation and feared by others. “Feared far and wide” in Darby Bible is “marvelous”, which means “wonderful” and “amazing”.
“A nation of continued waiting and of treading down”: The US has counties, cities and states. It is “a nation of treading down” because American states are different from our provinces. Our provinces are divided by mountains and rivers, also by ethnicity. Therefore, the boundaries of our provinces are not straight lines, but different curves. However, the states of America are squares and rectangles. Why ? When the new immigrants first came from Europe, people were harried to take over land borders, and were competing with each other. Then they drew the borders themselves, and the shapes are simply rectangular.
“Whose land the rivers have spoiled”: Why are the rivers spoiled ? Because of pollution in rivers of the US is very serious, and the destruction caused by pollution indeed is very great.
Babylon is now today’s Iraq. Looking at Daniel 2:31-35 the human image: the head with fine gold is Babylon ( Daniel 2: 37-38 ): “its breast and its arms of silver”( 32 ) is Mede and Persian; “its belly and its thighs of brass, its legs of iron”( 32b ) is Greece, and “its feet of iron and part of clay”(33 ), is Rome. This human image represents the four great empire in the world. The fourth one, Roman Empire lasted till 476 AC. If including the division of East Rome and West Rome, the day extended to 1145 AC ( Constantinople was the capital of East Rome and Rome was still the capital of the West Rome ), in 1224 AC, the empire was completely fallen apart.
However, the fall of Rome did not last forever. Centuries later the unification of Europe brought the revival of Rome, because the territory of ancient Rome is in Europe. The documentary day was January 1, 1993. More signs will be shown before the seven years of tribulation.
During the time that John was writing Revelation, the Roman Empire held the authority. John did not feel safe to openly foretell the revival of Rome, so he used the symbol of the “head” of the human image to represent Babylon. Jeremiah 50:-51: and Revelation 18: both used Babylon to imply the fall and the revival of Rome.
But why do we read Babylon as America ? Please don’t forget that if Babylon represents Europe - the revival of Rome, and Americans came from Europe, Europeans are the original Americans immigrants. Certainly America has Africans and Asians, too, but it is still dominated by Europeans. Therefore the descriptions of Babylon does not only prophesies about Europe, also about America. Now allow us to compare Babylon with America based on Jeremiah 50:-51:, and understand that how has America been described in the Bible:
“Your mother (Babylon)¼”(Jeremiah 50:12): Ancient Babylon only had father but no mother. Who is the father of Babylon? Babylon comes from Babel. Babel means “scatter”, and Babylon means “confound” or “confuse”.
Nimrod is the father of Babel: “Cush begotten Nimrod ¼ And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel”( Genesis 10:8-10, also 11, 9 notice the small word “Rebel”).
Babylon has only father no mother, but how to explain the “mother” in Jeremiah 50:12 ?
Babylon represents Europe, and Americans came from Europe, therefore it also represents America. Who is the mother of America? It is Europe especially England.
“She is become hindmost of the nations”(50:12): “Hindmost”, is the nation comes last, or a young nation. America became independent on July 4, 1776, she has a history of 220 years, and is a young super power.
After America became independent, Israel has been reestablished; which is younger than America: “And I will bring Israel again to his pasture ¼”(50:19) Look! In verse 12 it is saying America is a young super power, and in verse 19 it is saying that during the existence of this young super power, comes the revival of Israel, whose flag is the six-stared flag of David.
“All the mingled people”(50:37): Soviet Union has 15 Federal Republic countries combining as a whole nation. Therefore it is a good but incorrect guess. This scripture originally is a prophecy about Babylon, and Babylon also represents America. America is a United States, indeed, it is a nation of “the mingled people”.
“Thou that dwellest upon many waters”(51:13): Babylon is a country of dessert, not “dwellest upon many waters”; though she has two rivers, but overall it is not a place of many waters. In contrast, the West of America is Pacific Ocean, and its East is Atlantic Ocean. Only a few nations are located between two oceans. The East of China is Pacific Ocean, but in the west there is no ocean but land. Other than the two oceans touching America, on inland she also has got Mississippi River, which is the third longest river in the world. If connecting the Missouri River, the total length is 4,200 km, which becomes the world’s longest river, no doubt that “thou that dwellest upon many waters” is America.
“Abundant in treasures”(51:13): it is needless to explain that America is a rich country. The “gold cup” in verse 7, refers to the large amount of petroleum found in the gulfs, contended by powerful nations. Petroleum has been honored as “black gold” and “industrial blood”. Babylon has plenty petroleum which brings the nation wealth. America is also an affluent country.
“Though Babylon should mount up to the heavens, and though she should fortify the height of her strength ¼”(51:53): the leading space technology of America first helped human land on the moon and then is used to construct spacecraft reaching the Mars. The developed American technology really seems to “mount up to the heavens”.
Besides that Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekiel also have words about America. Ezekiel 38 foretells that the northern nations which are headed by Russia will attack Israel again in the beginning of the seven years of tribulation, American and British will step out and interfere.
“Sons of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.”( Ezekiel 38:2 )
“Rosh” is Russia. In history “Rosh” had been used, and later became “Rus”. Ros is the people who lived north of Taurus Mountain Volgar River zone. In Greek it indicates Russia.
“Meshech” is Moscow: in Hebrew is Meshech and in Greek is Moschi. In 19th century, before Napolion invaded the capital of Russia in Europe, Moscow was called Meshech. In the past, the head of the tribe of Mechech, Moschi was the founding father of the tribe. Therefore Meshech is now Moscow.
“Tubal”, is Tobolsk: the ancient name “Tubal” is the fifth generation of Noah (Genesis 10:2). Historical evidence proves that Tubal is the ancestor of Tibereni, and is one of the groups of Sicilar. Later some of them moved to the west of the Black Sea, and others to Siberia. The capital of Russia in Asia, Tobosk came from the name “Tubal”.
“Gog, the land of Magog”: “Magog”, examined by Joseph, “The Greek named Magog Scythians, this tribe lived in the north of the Caucasus Mountain. Sicilar tribe was the ancient origin of Russia. “Gog”, is title of the head of the land of Magog.
In general, it is a scripture on Russia. Who will follow Russia? Please read the following lines: “Persia, Cush, and Phut with them, all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands: the house of Togarmah from the uttermost north, and all his bands; - many peoples with thee.”(Ezekiel 38:5-6)
“Persia” is now Iran; “Cush” is Ethiopia in Africa.
“Phut”, also is called “Rubia”, same as “Libya” in Africa. “Put” is also the third son of Ham ( Genesis 10:6 ). In historical record Put or Phut has been related with Libya ( Nahum 3:9). Archaeologists said that Libyans lived in North Africa along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and gained independence in 1951. On September 1, 1969, there was a political movement led by Khabafy, the nation changed its name to “People’s Republic of Libya”, and showed antagonism toward Jews and America. At that time Soviet Union’s Department of Rockets and the Police Force of East Germany were resided on Libya.
“Gomer” is the first son of Japheth ( Genesis 10:2). They first lived the upper level of the great Euphrates River. They conquered Coppadocia in 7th century BC, and continuously emigrated to Black Sea, which was called Euxine Sea; gradually they moved to the west of Europe, most of them settled along the Donuble River zone, which now includes Germany, Poland and Czech.
“Togar” or “Togarmah” is the third son of Gomer ( Genesis 10:3). They did not emigrated to Europe. They settled in Asia, especially around the Caspian Sea, mainly in Amenia, Tukuman, Kazakhstan and Turkey. All these countries are friends of Russia.
She wants to attack Israel, saying: “I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will come to them that are in quiet, that dwell in safety, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, to seize a spoil, and to take away a prey; to turn thy hand against the waste places that are ( now ) inhabited, and against a people gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the middle of the land”(Ezekiel 38:11-12 ). These two verses clearly foretell that Russia will attack Israel and seize a spoil.
Right at this time, Britain and other countries will stand out and interfere: “Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, ‘Art thou come to seize a spoil ?¼’ ”(13) “Sheba”, is at Gulf of Aden, south of Arab, was a trading center of many nations. (Ezekiel 27:22-23, Jeremiah 6:20). “Dedan” is on the right of Gulf of Persian, also was a trading center ( Ezekiel 27:15, 20). These two places were both British military bases during World war II. “The merchants of Tarshish”, “Tashish” is the son of Javan ( Genesis 10:2 ). His descendants live near the sea. Tashiah is a harbor and a world trade center of Spain. “The merchants of Tarshish” means the British (not Tarshish, but “the merchants” means the British). “Britain” means “Island of Tin”. These merchants had special interest in doing business of tin ( Ezekiel 27:12). The kingdom of tin gradually is called “Britain”. Logically, “Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish” all refer to Britain.
What about America, then ? In the next line: “with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to seize a spoil ?”( Ezekoel 38:13 b). Please notice that America came from Europe, and mainly from Britain. The word “thereof” means “come from”. “Young lions”, lions are the king of all beasts and America is a super nation. Even though “lions” has been translated to “villages” in some versions of the Bible, but in Darby version it is printed “lions”. the “lion” here cannot be Russia, because Russia has been mentioned earlier, and the “lions” here are opponents of Russia.
“Young’ means new: America has only a history over 200 years, therefore is “young”. “Young” also implies “strong”, and indeed America is a strong nation.
The word “lions” is plural so it must be a group of young lions: the new found America had only 13 states, and later it expanded to 48, and at last it became 50 young lions. A group, can also be seen as America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, etc. getting together.
“Shall say unto thee”: this group of lion certainly cannot be the lions in the forest, because the lions in the forest cannot inquire things to human. The first part of the scripture refers to Britain, and the second part “with all the young lions thereof”, obviously means America. Britain and America here are not to declare war with Russia, but only to make intervention and raise questions. “Art thou come to seize a spoil ?¼ to carry silver and gold ¼? ”(38:13) Many nations who are headed by Russia, want to seize the “cattle” of Israel, but more importantly to “carry silver and gold”, and most importantly to obtain the treasure under the Dead Sea. Because of the abundant valuable resources, it is said that it needs the double of the world’s total amount of money to buy the resources under the Dead Sea. However, before the mobilization of Britain and US has yet started, God will use kinds of disasters to lay His wrath on them (38:17-28), causing them to destroy each other when eventually they feel hopeless and helpless: “ever man’s sword shall be against his brother.”(38:21) During the first half of the seven years of disaster, America will continuously to have certain influence on Israel.
The US has many contributions to the world in the past hundred years. However, since the 60s of this century, it begins to decline.
We could see the declining of America by studying some of the most recent presidents.
He is a Catholic, but has no real religion.
Shortly after he came to office in 1961, an Italian congresswoman suggested to cancel the open prayer in public school; and schools started to teach evolution.
American students never ceased to pray to God every morning since the beginning of the new nation till 1960s. But the presidency of Kennedy, the prayer section has been canceled. The Senate approved this suggestion once it was made, and it was carried out by the Secretary of Defense, Kennedy’s brother, Robert Kennedy.
Soon after this, J.K. Kennedy was assassinated in the end of 1963. His brother Robert was assassinated, too.
Later the US lost the Vietnam War. A troop of 500 thousand soldiers had been raided in the jungles of Vietnam. Vietnam defeated the US. This is the beginning of the declining of the US.
It is a pity that J.K. Kennedy is still recognized by Americans as big hero.
The first suggestion that he made after he came to office was to resume the open prayer in public schools, but is had been disapproved by the Senate.
He had achievements in leading the Gulf War and tried to guard the peace in Middle-East.
The problem of peace in Middle-East:
The peace in Middle-East meets the prophecy in the Bible. After signing the treaties with the Arabic nations, Israel will then “dwell in safety, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates”(Ezekiel 38:12) “When they may say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them.”(I Thes. 5:3) The sudden destruction means the seven years of disasters. Anti-Christ will be the last one to sign the Seven Years Peace Treaty with Israel, then the seven years of disasters begin. It is good sign that treaties being signed.
It does not please God if Israel yields its land in exchange of peace, because Israel is God’s promise land to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but not to the sons of Ishmael.
The condition suggested by the US to achieve in the Middle-East is that Israel is willing to yield some of is territory. An argument went on during the peace conference between the Secretary of the States, Bilk and the Prime Minister of Israel. Samier has strong belief. He tried everything to keep the land, and said, “not an inch of land will be giving away.” When the dispute was getting intensive, a telegraph was sent to Bilk notifying the death of his mother. So he had to leave right away for the funeral, and the dispute was halted.
The sixth day after Bilk return to the States, Bush passed out during his jogging in Camp David. The doctor confirmed that he’s got heart disease. Later when Bush visited Tokyo, he fainted toward the Prime Minister of Japan in front of the television screen.
Now let us learn something about Yitshak Rabin:
He was born in Jerusalem in March 1, 1922. He spent his teenager years in Tel Aviv-Yato. Since January 1968, for the next five years, he was the diplomat of Israel in Washington DC. From September 1984 to March 1993, he was the Secretary of Defense of Israel. In June 1992 he became the Prime Minister.
He is a left-wing of Middle-East, and is an atheist. He does not read the Bible.
He fought the position with the prior Prime Minster, Samier. Samier has strong belief and insisted that never to yield the land. The US promised to give 1 billion dollars to Israel if they agree to compromise during the Persian Gulf War. Rabin gave away some areas of the holy place. He spoke to the US congress, “We truly desire peace.”
“Rabin” is very close to the word “Rabbi”. Rabin is “the head of many”. “Rab” means ruler or the head; “Bin” means many.
In the future Anti-Christ will “confirm a covenant with the many ( for )one week”( Dan. 9:27). Both Anti-christ and Rabin has meaning of “many people”. Rabin is the first one who signs treaty with many people. “Head” also means the first. ( The Treaty of Camp David was just a try, it was a failure because Egypt was expelled by the Arabic confederation.) Rabin became the first one and Anti-Christ will be the last one.
Bush wanted Israel to give away land to achieve peace in the Middle-East, such act is against God’s will.
He was a Christian in Emanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock City. When he was the governor of Arkansas he sang in the church choir. He belonged to the “liberals”.
He followed Bush’s policy and does not care God’s word. He wanted that Israel must promise with the Arabic nations.
The worst thing is that he approves the practice of homosexual. Jesus said that in the last days people will repeat the path of Sodom. “in like manner as took place in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven, and destroyed all ( of them ).”(Luke 17:28-30) Sodomy means homosexual. The wicked life of Lot’s in sodomy is shown on the legal practice of the homosexuals in the US troops. This is really the days of Lot coming back.
Americans kicked God out of sign since the 60s. All these presidents except Reagan, failed to obey God’s will.
There are more than one thousand religions in the US, more than other countries. But America also has cults, such as Jehovah Witnesses and the Church of Mormon.
The most terrifying one is the Church of Satan. During their worship, they practice adultery in front of their “god”. “666” is written on their drums ( Revelation 13:18). They said, “Satan is the real Son, Jesus seizes his position.” The Church of Satan is most active in San Francisco.
The faith of American church started to fade ( Matthew 24:10-12), there are many signs showing. Many American Christians say, “our sanctuary is great and beautiful, but worshipers are gradually disappearing.” Many people spiritually fall asleep, they do not go out and evangelize, but only to build social relationshi#p. There are also homosexuals among Christians.
Because of the material affluence, existed many lukewarm Christians. (Revelation 3:15 )
There are 3.7 million credit cars being stolen each year for the total value of 10 million and 7 thousand dollars.
High divorce rate: there are more people requesting to divorce than to get married. 2,986 couples were divorced in the 1980s.
During the recent decade, in average, 180 American women being raped each day, 1,600 teenage girls getting pregnant, 1,282 babies are born because of pre-marriage sex.
1992, 50-75% high schools students have sexual practice. Basketball star, Magic Johnson has got AIDS because of his irresponsible act.
More and more homosexuals are AIDS carriers ( Luke 17:28, II Timothy 3:2, 4). AIDS invades both youths and adults, and it becomes the third greatest killer.
Problem of sell and use of drugs; in recent century appeared many drug addicts in America and England. America has the highest number in the world, and England has the highest number in Europe.
Americans consumed approximately 50 billion dollars of opium, or half of the budget of national defense. 2.16 million people are taking drugs. New York has the highest number and California is second. The drug gangsters have tax-deductions.
Bush said, “the Anti-drug movement is not very effective”, because the drug addicts do not repent.
Violence: a lot of people bear guns and they are fearless. There are several homicides each day. Clinton said, “the problem of violence and crimes is getting more serious, especially in the cities.” There is a killing in America every 22 minutes, and every 22 seconds there is a violent crime.
Schools are filled with violence and some get shot. 600 thousand students skip school each year. 500 thousand unmarried girls bear children. Every 7 seconds, a child commits a crime because of drugs. Every 36 seconds, a child is being gunned down.
On October 29, 1992, LA riot.
Certainly crimes occur frequently in all parts of the world during the last days. However, America is considered a Christian country. She gradually turns away from God and dwells in sins. How pitiful and lamentable !
“In those days Jehovah began to cut Israel short”( 2 King 10:32). God tolerated many sins of Israel, but when more and more Israelites offered their sons to false god, Molech, punishment had come from God. In parallel, America turns away from God and does not repent, God will also “cut America short.”
God will treat America the same way that He treated Israel ( Micah 5:15, Ezekiel 39:21 ).
It is a famous saying, “good rewards to the virtuous, and punishment goes to the evil.” The Bible also says that judgment will come from God. However, there are temporary and eternal punishments. Now let us discuss some of the most recent punishments that America suffers:
In April, 1992, in California, there were four earthquakes and all were graded No. 6 on the Richter Scale. Following the aftershocks, a No. 7.4 earthquakes strike in June. In January, 1994, there was another one grading No. 6.6 Accompanying are flood and hurricanes.
A hole appeared in the ozone layer above America, causing five disasters and climate disorder.
In September 1992, a hurricane called “Andrew” strike Florida. Three days prior the event, there was heat current occurring above the West of the African Ocean, in 24 hours it became a hurricane. Even though the meteorologists noticed but they said that “it is far away from us.” Therefore, nobody was prepared for the disaster. Consequently, 32 thousand people lost their homes when the first hurricane came; 45 thousand people suffered the same lost when it moved to Louisiana. Colorado had never been this hot in the month of April, but it was snowing in June. The whole nation suffered a great lost under climate disorder.
1992, the number of prostrate cancer patients increased; tuberculosis revived. Since the introduction of anti-biotic, tuberculosis has been perished for 30 years. However, in recent years many people caught this disease again, especially in LA. It has not been this serious for 34 years.
On November 18, 1993, a big current occurred between Mexico and America. A cold wave came from Canada and a hot wave came from Mexico. They caused climate disorder and a great flood. Arizona is a famous cancer city, 600 people have gotten cancer and 200 people died from it. The city provides excellent medical services but it still cannot prevent more and more people getting this disease.
The weather in the US has never been this crazy in 1993. There were 210 hurricanes of various scales. It snowed in warm season and rain poured down when no one was expecting. Many victims said that it was God’s hand taking control.
Currently the US plays a secondary roll on the world stage. In the future the United Nations of Europe will be more influential in the world than the US, and the US will have to be subject to Europe and Russia.
The wicked behaviors of the nation lead to more disasters. However, all these disasters are temporary, because “she hath acted proudly against Jehovah”( Jeremiah 50:29 ). There will be greater judgment to the future, which comes after Jesus Christ returns to the air.
When Jesus Christ is coming again, He will lift up the church. Shortly after this, it begins the seven years of tribulation. The first three and a half years will be “the beginning, and the second three and a half years will “be the great tribulation” ( Matthew 24:8, 21).
We have mentioned earlier that not long after the beginning of the great tribulation, Russia and some other countries will attack Israel ( Ezekiel 38:7-12), and this is “the end of days”(8,16). Right at this moment, the US and some other countries will stand out and make intervention. At this point the US still serves good influence.
However, later the US will be threatened by Anti-Christ of Europe, Russia will attack Israel again. At the same time it attacks the US. Russia has arrows ( Jeremiah 50:9), which are rockets. We know that Babylon is the revived Rome ( Europe ), extending to America. America is the hammer but it will be cut and broken, “How is the hammer of the whole earth cut as under and broken !”(Jeremiah 50:23. Ref. 32,40-42) “Behold, a people cometh from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall arise from the uttermost parts of the earth.”( verse 41) The nation which comes from north is Russia. Russia and other countries will defeat the US. “Babylon is suddenly fallen and ruined”( Jeremiah 51:8). “Though Babylon should mount up to the heavens, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, said Jehovah.”(53) Also in Isaiah 13:5, “They come from a far country, from the end of heavens - Jehovah, and weapons of his indignation - to destroy the whole land.” “They” are the Russians, who will conquer the US.
At last, near the end of the seven years of tribulation, there will be the last world war exploded in the north of Israel - Armagedon (Revelation 16:12-16). Anti-Christ will make alliance with Europe to attack Israel, leading East, South and North, three troops. In the south there will be an alliance led by Egypt, and there will be the king of the north ( Daniel 11:40). Others will come from the east and west to attack the holy place, but all of them will be destroyed when Jesus Christ is descending from above.
America is a special nation. She is young, multi-cultural, strong, technological developed. She is a Christian country, has many contributions to world evangelism; and a blessed nation.
Sadly, since 60s, America is turning bad, and God has begun his judgment toward her.
Certainly, every country will be living like the days of Noah and Lot during the last days. Other countries will also suffer some catastrophes, but not as much as America. Why ? God had compassion toward those who know little about Him. But America is a Christian country, but pushes God aside and lives a life own her own. How would God easily show His mercy ?
In parallel, for people who know God but do not listen to Him, God’s hand would weigh doubly heavy on these people. We are living during the last days, and we should be more watchful and never go astray from God.
When we see the declining of America, we know that the day that Jesus Christ coming again is near. America still cannot achieve world hegemony. During the seven years of tribulation, European Alliance will became the chief. Look ! Everything is happening in front of our eyes.
Dec. 1, 1995.
Scripture (according to Darby Translation): “The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Madai, and Tiras. And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.” ( Gen 10:2-3, Ezek 38:-39: )
We have mentioned about “China in the Bible” and “America in the Bible”, now let’s take a look at Russia in the Bible.
In the past, we spoke of the “Soviet Union.” But as from 11th March, 990 till 16th December, 1991, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, we simply talk about “Russia”. The remaining fourteen republic states gained independence. The past of Russia and the fourteen allied republic states could only be called “former Soviet Union.”
In fact, the Bible did not mention “Soviet Union”. It only spoke of Rosh (Russia) and its republic states. This of course is “Soviet Union”. After the former Soviet Union was dissolved, and since the biggest state was Russia, it is more appropriate to mention Russia.
China, America and Russia are the three biggest coutries in the world. Prophetically the Bible had words for these three countries. Certainly, Israel is the focal country of the world and the Bible chiefly discussed over Israel. Apart from Israel, the Bible also made mention of these three large countries. Discussions had been made of China and America, let’s now turn to look at Russia. These three countries are of great significance.
After the Flood, Noah and his three sons came out from the ark. Noah’s three sons and their descendants were spread over the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa. Shem was the eldest son, his descendants were spread over Asia. Ham’s descendants mainly spread over Africa. Japheth, the youngest son, had his descendants chiefly scattered over Europe.
“The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.” (Gen 10:2)
Japheth had seven sons: Magog, Tubal, Meshech. They were the ancestors of the Russians. Let’s now review over these three sons.
He is the grandson of Noah, and the second son of Japheth. The Jewish historian Josephus affirmed with proof that “The Greeks called Magogs Scythians, this tribe lived in the north of Caucasus.”
Scythians were mentioned in the Bible: “wherein there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ [is] everything, and in all.” (Col 3:11) Scythians referred to Russia during later days.
The Scythians used to invade the camp of Caucasus threatening the neighboring people, they were thus known as “Caucasus”. Caucasus actually came from a variation of Gogchasan. Gogchasan (Gog and chasan which means camp site), therefore, is the camp of Gog.
The “Great Wall” of China in Arabic is “The Great Wall of Magog”. It is translated as “The Wall of Al Magog” in English as this was built to prevent the invasion of Magog (Russia).
He is the grandson of Noah and the fifth son of Japheth: “The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.” (Gen 10:2)
History bore evidence to the fact that Tubal was the ancestors of Tibereni: one of the tribes of the Scythians. At a later stage, part of them went to the west of the Black Sea and the other part migrated east to Siberia.
The history of the Soviet Union contained that the archaic word Tubal was slightly altered to become the word Tobolsk. Therefore, Tubal is Tobolsk.
This city was built in 1587, on the eastside of the Ural Mts., by the side of River Tobolsk (connected with River Ob). It was the industrial capital city of Russia. It was then one of the states of central Asia. Later on, it became many minority people groups.
He is the grandson of Noah, the sixth son of Japheth. The Greek word for Meshech is Moschi. The descendants of Japheth were scattered loosely in Europe. They are the white people.
At first, they entered South Russia from Asia Minor. Later they moved to North Russia which evolved to become Moscow.
Moschi, who was the chieftain of a tribe of ancient Meshech, founded the city of Moscow.
Some two thousand years ago, Russia was a city state.
In the beginning of the 19th century, before Napolean attacked the capital city of the European portion of Russia, Moscow was known as Meshech, hence, Meshech was Moscow.
The Book of Ezekiel had more and also more thorough discussion on Russia.
“son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him.” ( Ezek 38:2 )
Magog is Russia. This we have mentioned formerly. We shall not dwell on it any further. Magog is located at the northern part of the Black Sea.
Gog is king. It has the meaning of ruler or leader and is the title of a head, just like Pharoah of Egypt, Caesar of Rome, Tsar of Russia. These are not names of kings but titles for kings. For instance, all the kings of Egypt were called Pharoah but they each had their own names. Gog was the title of ancient Russian Tsars.
“Gog and Magog” in Rev 20:8-9 did not refer to Russia as they are “the nations which [are] in the four corners of the earth” after the Millenium, they are countries that are enemies of God. Thus we should not mix them u#p.
“The definition of Rosh: Rosh, the race of the north of Mt. Taurus and along River Volga.” Rosh might have different translations, yet for two thousand five hundred years, the name “Rosh” does not have much change, it means “head”, “leader”.
They live near the Black Sea originally. Ancient Eastern people called them “Rosh” or “Russia”. This was the name of a race. The Greek word Rus is used to refer to Russia.
When Ivan Ⅳbecame head of Russia, he called himself king and changed the name of the country from the original “Muscovy” to “Russia”. This was evolved from Rosh. In Russian, it was known as Prccr. The 6th issue 1978 of “World Knowledge” read, “Before the October Revolution, Russia was governed by Tsars, and was known as the “Russian Empire”, “Tsar Rus” in brief, the name being a derivative of “Rosh”. “Rosh” originated in the mid-centuries and had its appearance in Eastern Europe. The name “Russia” appeared after the 11th century. In the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was a backward (Grade 5) country, ruled by Tsars. After the “October Revolution” in 1917, it became the “Soviet Union”.
The Bible did not explicitly say “Tsar Russia”, let alone did it mention “Soviet Union”, it only spoke of “Rosh, Meshech, Tubal”. Two hundred years ago, a preacher in London had already said, “This refers to Russia”. In 1890, Gabriel was an expositor on the Book of Ezekiel. He also asid,” This refers to Russia”; in 1909, Scofield also said, “This refers to Russia.”
Chapters 38 to 39 of Ezekiel spoke on Russia, the beginning of each chapter mentioned “Rosh, Meshech, Tubal” (38:2, 39:1). We have said that this referred to Russia. Even more wonderful, the Bible said it was in the “uttermost north”: “And thou shalt come from thy place out of the uttermost north, thou and many peoples with thee......”(38:15) “and I will turn thee back, and lead thee, and will cause thee to come up from the uttermost north, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel.”(39:2) If it said “the uttermost South”, it would no longer have been Russia but some other countries. The Book of Jeremiah said this northern country was a “seething pot”. “And the word of Jehovah came to me the second time, saying, what seest thou? And I said I see a seething-pot, and its face is from the north..…. Out of the north shall evil break forth ...... I am calling all the families of the kingdoms of the north.......” (Jer 1:13-15) “For I am bringing evil from the north, and a great destruction.” (4:6) “Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation is stirred up from the uppermost parts of the earth……” (6:22-26). Please read in depth 10:22, 16:14-15, 23:8, Dan 11:13,40,44, Joel 2:20. But we do not talk about the Books of Jeremiah or Daniel now (we would look at them later). These are related prophecies, especially for a northern country which lies on the Northern Belt.
Wonderfully, due north of Jerusalem lies Moscow.
We are not going to have a thorough discussion on Russian history. We can only briefly review over Russia’s past and present. And then let’s see how the Bible spoke of all the things concerning Russia.
In the 9th century, the various tribes of Slavic of Eastern Europe united to form Kiev Russia.
It was only until the end of the 15th century that the united country of Russia with central power and Moscow as the focus was formed.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Peter I laid the foundation of the Russian Empire. The October Revolution : on 7th Nov. (Russian calendar: October) 1917, the Russian Empire became the Soviet Union, a socialist republic.
On 30th December, 1922, the united states of Russia joined Ukraine, Tartar tribe, white Russia and outside Caucasian united states to form the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In 1940, Russia became a country of many races with 15 allied republic states.
From 11 th March 1990 to 16th December 1991, the 14 allied states all became independent. This took twenty-two months.
|
1. |
Lithuania : |
11 March |
1990. |
|
2. |
Kyrgyzstan : |
9 April |
1991. |
|
3. |
Estonia : |
20 Aug. |
1991. |
|
4. |
Latvia : |
22 Aug. |
1991. |
|
5. |
Ukraine : |
24 Aug. |
1991. |
|
6. |
Belorussia : |
25 Aug. |
1991. |
|
7. |
Moldavia : |
27 Aug. |
1991. |
|
8. |
Azerbaijan : |
30 Aug. |
1991. |
|
9. |
Uzbekistan : |
31 Aug. |
1991. |
|
10. |
Georgia : |
31 Aug. |
1991. |
|
11. |
Tajikistan : |
9 Sept. |
1991. |
|
12. |
Armenia : |
23 Sept. |
1991. |
|
13. |
Turkmenistan : |
27 Oct. |
1991. |
|
14. |
Kazakhstan : |
16 Dec. |
1991. |
Area: 1710 sq. meters.
Population : 148,000,000.
The first president: on 25th December 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev signed and became the Russian president.
The Bible used the word “Rosh” (Russia): the Bible used ancient names. It mentioned Rosh, not “Soviet Union”. The Bible only said, “thou and many peoples with thee......” (Ezek 38:15), “…...and many peoples with thee.” (v.9)
In the past, it was “Soviet Union”, although the Bible did not mention “Soviet Union”, it did speak of “Rosh” --the northern country and many countries. “And thou shalt come from thy place out of the uttermost north,thou and many peoples with thee ......”. This most likely describes the Soviet Union. Now that the Soviet Union is disintegrated we shall study the Bible again. The Bible has in fact talked about Russia. “Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, ......”(Ezek 38:2-3, 39:1) The use of the word “Russia” and “many countries” becomes more apparent and pertinent after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
At this point we shall talk about the situation of the Jews in Russia and their return.
After AD 70, the Jews were dispersed over all the earth. This was a direct result of their nailing our Lord Jesus to the cross. Many of the Jews escaped to Russia.
During the time of the Tsars, they suffered great persecution. After the Russian Revolution, the Jews started to have some freedom. But they were not allowed to leave Russia. However, many of them escaped secretly. In 1989, some six million Russian Jews escaped and went back to Israel.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, many of the Jews returned to their own country. The Bible prophecies were fulfilled: “Behold, I bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth; [and] among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great assemblage shall they return hither.” (Jer 31:8) Three million more Jews will have to return (Isa 4: 3).
The return of the Jews from Russia could be likened to coming out from Egypt the secomd time : “Therefore, behold, days are coming, saith Jehovah, that it shall no more be said, [as] Jehovah liveth, who brought up the children out of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, [as] Jehovah liveth, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands wither he had driven them. For I will bring them again into their land, which I gave unto their fathers.” (Jer 16:14-15) The first time that Israel came out from Egypt, the country that persecuted them, happened after they took the Passover meal (Exo 12:41-42), the time being the 14th day of the first month according to Jewish calendar (v18). Coming out from Russia this time should be known as “out of Russia”. But the Bible said, “from the north country”. This could be compared to coming out from Egypt a second time, and hence escape from the persecution from the north: “Ho ho! flee from the land of the north, saith Jehovah; for I have scattered you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, saith Jehovah.” (Zech 2:6)
The Jews had their country restored on 14th May 1948. Before the restoration of the country, more than three million of them returned to their own country. After the country was restored, many of the Jews returned from former Soviet Union and Russia, this is truly like coming out from Egypt a second time.
Chapters 38 and 39 of Ezekiel did not only talk about Russia but more important, it mentioned that Russia and its allied countries will attack Israel.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Russia was not a powerful country in the world. At that time, nobody would have believed that “Gog of Magog” referred to Russia and its allied countries.
Until the beginning of this century, or shall we say, before the October Revolution, Russia’s power was not highly regarded. After the October Revolution, Russia rose in status until it became one of the two most powerful countries (superpowers) in the world. Before we talk about the future attack of Russia on Israel, let’s review the attitude of the former Soviet Union on the Middle East.
During the five Middle East Wars, the Soviet Union had strongly supported the Arabic countries with weapons.
In June 1967, Israel captured a lot of Soviet made weapons and gunfire. On 6 th June 1982, within a period of six minutes, Israel destroyed Syria’s Saddam-6 missile base. The Soviet made SS20 guided missile could target any West European cities. The Soviet Union called the Japan Sea the Soviet Union Sea. In 1976, the Soviet Union and Vietnam agreed that Vietnam lent the American opened $160,000,000 Cam Ranh Military Port to the Soviet Union for its use. This is an ideal base as an entry and exit to the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, providing a means to control Port Aden. The Soviet-made T-72 tank had a name for being indestructable, but during the Lebanon and Arabic war, the weapon fell into Israel’s hands: “No weapon that is prepared against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that riseth against thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn.
This is the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness is of me, saith Jehovah.” (Isa 54:17)
The neighboring countries of Israel, e. g., Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt etc, all had their weapon supply from the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union prepared the weapons mainly to deal with Israel.
This will take place before Christ comes in the mid-air and the seven years tribulation.
It is mainly for the loot: “to seize a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thy hand against the waste places that are [now] inhabited, and against a people gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the middle of the land.” (Ezek 38:12)
Russia will discover abundant mineral ore deposits costing some one billion billion American dollars, more than the sum total of America, England and France. Dead Sea is doubtlessly the world’s treasure house.
Most of the mineral ores is Uranium At present, the west bank of the Dead Sea belongs to America while Jordan owns the east bank. Israel is excellent with science, daily extraction of products amounts to much. If Russia were to coercively occupy the Dead Sea, it tantamounts to controlling almost the whole of the world.
At the time when the oil supply of the Middle East and North Africa sees its natural limit, lsrael’s ample oil resources will be discovered. Countries headed up by Russia will attack Israel, not for anything else but for her oil.
The 8th issue 1991 of the former Soviet Union Periodical “Economy and Life” publicised an article of Io Ikrov (translation) manager of “Afka centre” (tr.) Engineeing Co: “The reality of the shortage of oil supply of the Soviet Union has become grim serious. Private airline cannot meet the needs of either passenger or shipment because of such shortage. For instance, within last year (1990) 25,000,000 passengers were not able to register…....”
“Persia, Cush and Phut with them; all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah from the uttermost north, and all his bands; many peoples with thee.” (Ezek 38:5-6)
(1) “Persians” (Iranians):
In the 9th century B.C., it was known as Medo Persian Empire. After it destroyed Babylon in the 6th century, it used the name Persia. In 1932, Persia used its former name Iran. “The sons of Shem : Elam” (Gen 10:22). The name Iran came from him.
The Russian army will attack Israel in future with Iran providing a pathway for such to take place. However, this is not yet mature and there will still be changes.
(2) “Cushite” (Ethiopia): in southern Egypt.
Cush is the oldest son of Ham: “And the sons of Ham: Cush” (Gen 10:6). Ham has the meaning of the black colour. “Cush” is a Hebrew word the English translation of which is Ethiopia.
“Ethiopia” in Acts 8:27 is actually “Cush” : “And he rose up and went. And lo, an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a man in power under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to worship at Jerusalem.” (Acts 8:27) Notice the word Cush and refer to Isa 18:1. Philip spread the Gospel to this eunuch who was the descendant of a pious officer. The eunuch went back with the Gospel; later the whole country turned to the Lord Jesus. They used the rituals of the Orthodox Church and became the Christian Orthodox country in Africa.
Cush had over a hundred races which was the reason for the Arabs to see it as a mixed people and called them “Abassi” (tr; meaning: mixed people). “Abassi” became “Abbissinia” when the syllables came closer together. In 1936, it was destroyed by Italy which renamed it “Abbissinia”. The king Haile Selassie went on an exile to London. In 1941, he went back to govern the coutry. He changed the name of the country back to “Ethiopia” as the other name fell out of his favour.
Cush originally occupied the south of the Arabic peninsula. Subsequently it moved to north east Africa and south Egypt. The other name for it was “Sheba”.
It used to have a close relationship with the U.S. Before 1974, it is unbelievable that it would follow the Soviet Union. But in 1974, Ethiopia overtuned the empire and abolished “the twenty-five years frendship treaty with the U.S.” It turned to the Soviet Union from a close relatinship with the U.S.
An incredible event materialised as the Bible long before prophesied that it would follow Russia! When famine came upon it later, much relief aid came from the Soviet Union.
In the past, some believe that the tribe of Dan of Israel no longer existed, in fact they were in Ethiopia. Israel had sent 10,000 Jews back by air. Over half of them were from the tribe of Dan.
(3) “ Phut ( Libyans ) ” ( Ezek 38:5, Dan 11:43) : “Libya” is the same as present day “Libya”.
He was the third son of Ham: “And the sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut.” (Gen 10:6)
Put or Phut were used in ancient history: “Phut and the Libyans.” (Na. 3:9) Phut is translated as Libyans in English. Archaeological proof indicates: they lived in North Africa along the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea, it includes also the North African Black countries.
The Hebrew word Phut is the same as Pul in Isa 66:19, it is also called Libya.
Libya became independent in 1951. The country leader Gaddafi had a close relationship with the U.S. and was anti-Soviet at first. He worshipped Nasser of Egypt. When Nasser died, Sadat came to the scene. Sadat gave up relationship with the Soviet Union and followed the U.S.
On lst Sept., 1969, Libya experienced coup which ended up in a quarrel between Gaddafi and Sadat. Subsequently, a close relationship between Libya and the USSR was formed. Libya was renamed “Socialist People’s Republic of Libya”. Gaddafi became anti-U.S. and anti-Semitic.
In 1974 Libya and the USSR signed a large scale military contract. The USSR was allowed to build two air-force bases, a radar station and a modernised military port in Libya. Libya hence became USSR’s third largest strategic storage site for military armament where the USSR rocket regime and the East Germany police regime were housed.
Nonetheless, his path was not all that smooth, after a season of madness, Gaddafi went into disputes with other Arabic countries. If it had not been so, they could have annihilated Israel quickly! But, Bible prophecies will all come to pass in the end.
(4) Gomer : “Gomer, and all his bands …....” ( Ezek 38:6 )
He was the oldest son of Japheth: “The sons of Japheth: Gomer …....” ( Gen 10:2 ) At first they inhabited the upper course of River Phrat.
The were called Gomeria originally and were the ancestors of ancient Crimmerians and came from the north of the Black Sea.
Gomer had three sons : “Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.” ( Gen 10:3 )
They had some skirmishes with the Scythians and lost grounds. They moved to the west of Asia Minor in 800 to 700 B.C. and becoming Crimea in the process. After 50 years, they were ousted and became the Celta later.
In A.D.7, they conquered Coppadocia. They migrated to the Black Sea, the old name of which was the Euxine Sea, along Turkey. They gradually moved to West Europe, mainly along the course of River Danube, i.e., Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia.
The Jews consider Ashkenaz the Germans ; other descendants were scattered in North Africa along River Danube. Those Crimmerians were Germans, some think they were inhabitants of northern Turkey.
(5) Togarmah Tribe: “…… the house of Togarmah from the uttermost north, and all his bands.” ( Ezek 38:6 ) “The sons of Japheth : Gomer, …... And the sons of Gomer : Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.” (Gen 10:2-3) They had not moved to Europe.
Togarmah (Togar) were mainly in Central Asia especially around Black Sea area, i.e., the former Soviet states of: Armenia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. People who dwelled around the Black Sea area called themselves by this name. The Black Sea is also known as “Togarmah Sea”.
Togarmah especially refers to Turkey. Armenia is known as the home of Turkey. The Jews call the Turks Togarmah.
“Uttermost north” in Ezek 38:6 should be translated “far north” because Turkey is in the north-west of Israel and its capital Ankara lies in the land of Togarmah.
Turkey is still close with the U.S. at present, but eventually it will turn to Russia.
Apart from the several coutries mentioned in Ezek 38, other countries, e.g., Egypt was also talked about : “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push him…... and the land of Egypt shall not escape. And he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.” (Dan 11:40-44) The tanks and machine guns were all made by former Soviet Union.
When will Russia etc attack Israel again? Read what Ezekiel has to say: “After many days shalt thou be visited; at the end of years thou shalt come into the land brought back from the sword [and] gathered out of many peoples; upon the mountains of Israel which have been a perpetual waste; .…..” (Ezek 38:8) Here it says “the end of years” and later it says “the end of days” ( v16 ).
Looking at “the end of the years”, this has to be after the rebirth of the nation Israel. We know from Ezekiel 37 that dry bones will come to life (v1-6) refers to the rebirth of the nation Israel: “And he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.” They were scattered over the Earth, just like dead people’s dry bone, countries of the whole world are like its grave. “.….. Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O my people, and bring you into the land of Israel.” (37:12) Ezekiel 38 comes after chap 37, therefore, “the end of years” must be after the rebirth of the nation Israel.
Ezekiel 40 to 48 talk about the heavenly kingdom coming upon the earth as the Millenial Kingdom, special mention was made about the holy temple in the Millenial Kingdom. This “the end of years” must come before the Millenial Kingdom, i.e., in the 7-year trbulation.
Will this war take place before the beginning of the 7-years period? Or after the 7-years period? Or within the 7-years period? It will not take place after the 7-years tribulation and neither will it take place in the middle of the 7 years, it has to be in the beginning of the 7 years. Why? Because after the war, “And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall kindle fire, and burn weapons, and shields, and targets, bows and arrows, and hand-staves, and spears : and they shall make fires with them seven years.” (39:9) The Israelites will go out and take weapons for firewood, “make fires with them seven years”, therefore this war will take place in the beginning of the 7-years.
In the beginning of the 7-years tribulation, there will be short-term peace. Now Israel has started to sign peace treaties with Arabic countries. Finally, a Roman leader will “confirm a covenant” (Dan 9:27) with Israel, and Israel will feel peaceful. After signing the covenant, Israel will start to take down the wall of the city gates: “.….. that dwell in safety, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars or gates .…..” (Ezek 38:11,8) At present, it is very sensitive along Israeli borders and they have city gates, there are security facilities in the surroundings to protect the city gates. From the days of Ezekiel up till now, in all the cities and villages of the Middle East, there are doors and gates.
After the Roman leader signs a 7 year peace treaty with Israel, and at the time when Israel takes down its city gates and walls and peace seems to abound, Russia etc will come to attack Israel.
This is in the beginning of the 7 years and in the post-peace period. The order is similar to Rev 6 (the beginning of the 7 years period): when the first seal was opened, out comes the one was opened, out comes the one sitting on a white horse, he is the Roman leader, after signing a covenant, there will be peace. “White” represents peace. But not long afterwards, the second seal will be opened, a red horse comes out, there will be war. “Red” is blood, there will not be peace ( Rev 6:1-4 ).
When Israel came back as a nation, the first country to recognise Israel was the Soviet Union (the hand was in its proper position), but soon it cuts off foreign relationship with Israel ( the hand is turned ).
On 30th Sept. 1990, the Soviet Union and Israel recovered foreign relationship (the hand came back to its proper position), but in future it will attack Israel ( the hand will be turned ) .
“And thou shalt ascend, thou shalt come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many peoples with thee.” (Ezek 38:9) “And thou shalt come from thy place out of the uttermost north, thou and many peoples with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great assemblage and a mighty army.” (38:15)
Let’s read, “storm”, “cloud”, “riding upon horses” and “a great assemblage and a mighty army”, this is really a fierce attack, how can Israel resist !
“Riding upon horses”. Why are horses used for warfar? This is because oil in northern Africa and the Middle East has been used up, therefore, horses are being used again. Now Russia has been preparing a lot of horses for warfar, in the end time, horses will be used again. Furthermore, “horses” can represent “horsepower”. Among all the powers in the world, only Russia has saved up a lot of soldiers on horsebacks.
Weapons will be back in the time of over 100 years ago : “And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.” (Ezek 39:3) “And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall kindle fire, and burn weapons, and shields, and targets, bows and arrows, and hand-staves, and spears: and they shall make fires with them seven years.” (39:9) The former Soviet Union had ordered a lot of lignostone from Holland. This kind of wood resembles coal, but it is also like steel and iron and shines, besides it is also resilient. Radar cannot detect its presence. They use this kind of lignostone to manufacture weapon.
“Thus saith the Lord Jehovah : Art thou not of whom I have spoken in old time through my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days, for [many] years, that I would bring thee against them?” (Ezek 38:17) “And I will turn thee back, and lead thee, and will cause thee to come up from the uttermost north, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel.” (39:2)
From the Word of God, we know that Russia will attack Israel, God let it do so, this can be considered as God’s leading it to attack Israel. “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Art thou not he of whom I have spoken in old time through my servants the prophets of Israel ?” Prophets of old time did not mention “Gog”, but there were prophecies : “For I am bringing evil from the north, and a great destruction.” (Jer 4:6-29) Russia becomes God’s instrument of judgment.
God raises up Russia and makes it fail in the end (Ezek 38:18-23, 39:7, Romans 9:17 ). These prophecies will all come to pass.
When Russia etc try to attack Israel, Britain and America will question (resist) them: “Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to seize a spoil? Wast thou gathered thine assemblage to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take cattle and goods, to seize a great spoil?” (Ezek 38:13) We have discussed this verse of the Bible in《America in the Bible》. Now let’s talk about 《Russia in the Bible》 and let’s read this verse in detail.
“Sheba”: Sheba was in Port Aden, southern Arabia. It was the commercial centre of different countries then ( Ezek 27: 22-23, Jer 6: 20 ) .
“Dedanites”: Dedan was on the right of Persian Gulf. It was also the commercial centre of different countries then (Ezek 27:15, 20).
The above two places were both military bases of Britain during the Second World War.
“Merchants of Tarshish” :
Tarshish was the son of Javan (Gen 10:4). His descendants lived along the coast. The Bible mentioned Tarshish some twenty times.
Tarshish had “fleet” (I Ki 10:22, ⅡChron 20:36) and “ships” (Na 1:3, Ps 48:7, Isa 2:16, Ezek 27: 25 ) .
Tarshish had “traffickers” (Jer 10:9, Ezek 27:12, 38:13 ) .
Tarshish was an island ( Isa 60:9 ) .
Tarshish: a port of Spain, it was also a world commercial port.
“Merchants of Tarshish” refer to the Britains (Tarshish were not Britains who were “merchants” of Tarshish). Britain has the meaning of “island of tin”. They were especially good with business, particularly with “tin” (Ezek 27:12) .
Ancient Phoenicians often got tin there. The country of tin was gradually changed to the name of “Britain”. Therefore, “Sheba, Dedanites and the merchants of Tarshish” refer to Britain.
Britain was also a country of isles. It used to be king of navy. The symbol of the country is lion.
What about America ? Please read on: “...... with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to seize a spoil ? ” ( Ezek 38:13b )
America and Canada were on Israel’s side and the U.S. used to vote for such cause in the U.N.
Please note, America came from Europe, mainly from Britain. Therefore, “with all…thereof” entails the meaning of “coming from”.
“Lion” is the the king of animals. America is a superpower. Although some translations have it translated as “villages”, Darby Bible still has it translated as “lions”. This could not be Russia, because it talked about Russia previously and the lions were against Russia.
“Young”: meaning “small in age”. America has a history of 220 years only. Therefore, it is young. Although the original text did not contain the word “strong”, yet to be young also means to be strong. The symbol for Britain is lion; America is a “young and strong” lions. “Lions” is a plural word, therefore it is a group of young and strong lion: when America was first estabished as a country, it had only 13 states. Later there were 48 states. Now there are 50 states of young and strong lions. A group means America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia etc.
“Shall say unto thee”, Britain and America will not have war against Russia, they only come out to interfere. “Say unto thee” is to question. What to ask Russia of ? The countries with Russia as head will take the “cattle” of Israel as prey. But they want mainly “to carry away silver and gold”, but the most important thing is the treasure in the Dead Sea. Because there are a lot of treasure in the Dead Sea, it amounts to one billion billion American dollars.
Ezekiel 38:18-39: 20 discussed about how God dealt with Russia etc. in detail.
This war will not be Britain and America defeating Russia etc. But God will use different kinds of disasters to defeat them.
God will be provoked to become angry first: “And it shall come to pass in that day, in the day when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah, [that] my fury shall come up in my face.”(v18) “Fury” should be translated as “wrath”, just as what comes later: “for in my jealousy, in the fire of my wrath ” (v19) . This is not ordinary anger but “wrath”.
God is going to use a great earthquake to punish them: “......Verily in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; so that the fish of the sea, and the fowl of the heavens, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things which creep upon the earth, and all mankind that are upon the face of the earth shall shake at my presence; and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.” (19-20) Why will it happen in Israel? It is because Russia etc will go to attack Israel. Therefore, God will let shaking happen in Israel. “Shaking” is earthquake. It will take place in Israel. It is not ordinary earthquake but a “great shaking”, i.e., a big earthquake. It is a “natural disaster”.
Because of the big earthquake, it will cause confusion within Gog: “And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord Jehovah: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.” (v21) Here “brothers” refer to one’s own people. Because of the great earthquake, it will cause internal confusion. The few countries that follow Russia will kill each other. This is “human disaster”.
There will be other kinds of disasters: “And I will enter into judgment with him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many peoples that are with him, overflowing rain and great hailstones, fire and brimstone......” (22-23) . “And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell at ease in the isles: and they shall know that I [am] Jehovah.” (39:6 )
Only big earthquake is already enough to suffer, there will be pestilence, rain, great hailstones, fire and brimstone etc, therefore, they will be in turmoil to the extent that they will kill each other and think that they are killing enemies.
After the war so many people will be killed that “And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying them.” (39:12) Therefore, there will be many dead people. This will demonstrate this war is not the war of Armagedon as there will still be time to bury the corpses.
Where will they bury the corpses: “And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] I will give unto Gog a place for burial in Israel, the valley of the passers-by to the east of the east; and they shall call it, Valley of Hamon-Gog.” (39:11) “East of the sea” refers to the valley in the east of the Dead Sea by the name Valley of Hamon-Gog.
Israel will bury corpses at the same time, there will be birds of prey and beasts of the field to eat the corpses: “Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the peoples that are with thee:I have given thee to be meat for the birds of prey of every wing, and to the beasts of the field.”(39:4)
They will eat corpses like eating meat of sacrifice: “And ye shall eat fat till ye are full, and drink blood till ye are drunken, of my sacrifice which I sacrifice for you.” (39:19)
The rest who are not dead yet will be driven to the north: “And I will remove far off from you him [that cometh] from the north, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, his face toward the eastern sea, and his rear toward the hinder sea; and his stench shall come up, and his ill odour shall come up, for he hath exalted himself to do great things.” (Joel 2:20)
“A land barren and desolate” refers to the Siberian Desert which is the eastern part of Russia. Also the sea of European Russia is the East Sea” and the Black Sea is the “West Sea”.
We are not going to discuss about this (the last) world war specifically. We are only going to look at how Russia will try to gather itself, after its failure, to launch its last attack on Israel.
Israel will become the richest country in the world before Christ comes back (Joel 2:21-24). This will become the cause for the countries in the world to come to attack Israel again and it will take place in Armagedon, north of Israel (Rev 16:16).
This should be the end of the seven-year tribulation.
The warning of the sixth angel (Rev 9:13-15). River Phrat is also called River Euphrates. The “angel” of River Phrat will be released and the river will happen for paving a path for the kings from the rising of the sun: “And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates; and its water was dried up, that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared.” (Rev 16:12) “Kings from the rising of the sun” refers to the many countries of the east, not one particular country, it will be many countries, “kings”. They will walk on dry ground from the land of the rising of the sun to Israel for joining other countries to attack Israel. “Which go out to the kings of the whole habitable world to gather them together to the war of [that] great day of God the Almighty.” ( Rev16:14 ) This is the end of the seven-years tribulation and before Christ and all the saints come on the earth ( 19:11-19 ) .
At the end of the seven years, various countries will have stored up a lot of nuclear weapon to launch the last world war. This war will only last for a day before it comes to a close: “for the hour and day and month and year” (Rev 9:15). “Year” , “month”, “day” and “hour” were all in singular form in the original text, i. e., this war will only last for a day before it comes to an end.
From east, south, north, west: everywhere of the world, there will be a big united force coming to attack Israel. This is something that will take place before Christ comes back to the earth.
“that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared.” (Rev 16:12) “Rising of the sun” is the East; “kings” of the East refer to various countries in Asia, not just one country.
“And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push him” (Dan 11:40). The Arabic bloc headed up by Egypt, especially “Cushite” shows clearly the various Arabic countries of Africa: “And he shall stretch forth his hand upon the countries; and the land of Egypt shall not escape. And he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.” (Dan 11:42-43)
united Europe is revived Rome, it is on the west of Israel. The European Union, under the leading of the anti-Christ will go and join the war in Israel.
“king of the north” in Dan 11:40 is the alliance with Russia as the head. They will have tried to attack Israel before the seven years tribulation, but will experience interference from America.
God will use different kinds of calamities to punish them. Later, the rest of the people will head towards the north. But Russia will not be content with its failure. Within those few years, it will prepare itself for war. Until the end of the seven years, it will join other northern countries to attack Israel.
In the end, Christ will come from mid-air to the earth and destroy all countries. (Rev 19:11-21)
The Bible talked about various countries of the world. Israel was talked about most. The country to come after it was Russia. Israel is a God chosen country. Christ was born within the country of Israel. Now, Israel is the centre of the world. It has already started to sign peace treaties with Arabic countries in the Middle East. Until not long after Christ comes back in mid-air, the Roman leader will sign the last peace treaty with Israel to provide peace to Israel for seven years. When we saw Rabin starting to sign peace treaties, we know that the Lord’s return is near.
After the Roman leader confirms the covenant with Israel (Dan 9:27), there will be peace on earth especially in Israel. This is the first seal mentioned in Rev 6 . The one who “sat on the white horse” is the Roman leader. White represents peace and it will just resemble what is said in I Thess 5:3 “When they may say, Peace and safety.”
But soon after the first seal is opened, the second seal will be opened (Rev 6:3-4). Red horse represents war. Red has the meaning of bleeding. This will be Russia and its allied countries attacking Israel at the beginning of the seven years and will just be as described in I Thess 5:3 “then sudden destruction comes upon them”. The beginning of the seven years tribulation is the disasters of the seals. The opening of the first and second seals will be Russia and its allied nations’ attack on Israel.
Until the end of the seven years tribulation, all the countries in the world will attack Israel. Russia and different northern countries will be the “army of the north” to join the war.
When we see the beginning of the signing of treaties and whole series of world events, we know that the Lord’s return is near.
In the past ten years, there were more prophecies being fulfilled than the past few thousand years. When we see all this, we should be more alert to wait for the Lord’s return.
Jan. 28, 1996.